covert-operation

Covert operation

A covert operation is a military or political activity carried out in such a way that the parties responsible for the action can be an open secret, but cannot be proved. Covert and clandestine are related terms, but not interchangeable. According to a United StatesDepartment of Defense definition, a covert operation is:

An operation that is so planned and executed as to conceal the identity of or permit plausible denial by the sponsor. A covert operation differs from a clandestine operation in that emphasis is placed on concealment of identity of sponsor rather than on concealment of the operation.

Covert operations are generally illegal in the target state and are frequently in violation of the laws of the enacting country. Therefore covert operations are typically performed in secrecy because they break specific laws or compromise policy in another country.

Covert operations are employed in situations where openly operating against a target would be politically or diplomatically risky, or be counterproductive to the mission's purpose. Operations may be directed at or conducted with allies and friends to secure their support for controversial components of foreign policy throughout the world. The equivalent Soviet terminology would be "active measures".

SOG had several subgroups, including cross-border special reconnaissance against the Ho Chi Minh trail, attempts to put spies into North Vietnam, and maritime operations. The latter included kidnapping of fishermen followed by their release with propaganda gifts, and direct action raids against North Vietnamese coastal targets. The North Vietnamese may have assumed the SIGINT destroyer patrols in the Gulf of Tonkin Incident were part of the raiding, although they were separate operations.

Operation Wrath of God was conducted by Mossad and resulted in the assassination of Palestinians who organized the murder of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany. While the operation was in process, it was covert at worst (i.e., Palestinians knew someone was assassinating them), but clandestinity was the goal. That the operation was later acknowledged by Israel did not make it covert during execution.

In Operation COINTELPRO, the FBI infiltrated and disrupted domestic left-leaning political groups during the Cold War. The mission was regarded by the sponsor (the FBI) to be clandestine in nature. When exposed, the activity was eventually declared illegal and led to additional U.S. laws being passed to attempt to prevent further such actions by the U.S. against its own citizens.

Richard Quirin, German World War II saboteur landed by German submarine in the US, as part of Operation Pastorius. Captured and executed. ex parte Quirin was a Supreme Court case challenging the constitutionality of execution of unlawful combatants